New York State’s House races drew intense national attention with a highly precarious balance of power in the U.S. Congress on the line
New York state’s congressional races, which drew national attention partly because their cumulative outcome might tip the balance of power in a narrowly divided House of Representatives, ended with Democrats flipping a couple key seats.
In many of the upstate and Long Island districts where the races played out, the issues that candidates raised on the pre-election debate stage were microcosms of issues at the center of the presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
NY-1: Nick LaLota Defends Seat Against John Avlon
In the later stages of the closely watched District 1 contest between incumbent Republican Rep. Nick LaLota and Democratic challenger John Avlon, a speechwriter for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, attention turned largely to the candidates’ policies regarding the climate and disaster preparedness, specifically flood preparedness.
Running with the endorsement of Suffolk County police unions, LaLota contrasted his law-and-order stance with that of his opponent. Avlon had the endorsement of New York Democrats such as Rep. Dan Goldman, Rep. Greg Meeks, and Rep. Tom Suozzi, who himself was running to keep his District 3 seat. Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) also backed Avlon.
Just days before the election, Avlon framed the flood issue as being of particular concern to their eastern Long Island district—given the damage that extremely heavy rains and flooding inflicted on the region in August 2024—as well as part of a larger struggle at the national level.
“If we can get clean energy right, on a transformational level, that will have the biggest impact,” Avlon said in an Oct. 31 podcast interview.
NY-3: Tom Suozzi Defeats Mike LiPetri, Retains Seat
Incumbent Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), who defeated Republican Mazi Pilip and won his District 3 House seat in a special election that was called after Rep. George Santos’s expulsion from Congress, successfully defended the seat from Republican challenger Mike LiPetri.
The outcome of the race to represent this affluent Suffolk County district in Congress is consistent with polls during the summer that found Suozzi with a commanding 14-point lead over his opponent.
In an Oct. 8 debate, Suozzi positioned himself as an affiliate of his party’s moderate wing. He cited endorsements he had received from police organizations on Long Island and criticized certain more radical stances of the party’s left wing. He said that “‘Defund the Police’ is the stupidest slogan in the history of politics” and expressed his strong support for law enforcement.
LiPetri argued that Suozzi’s voting record on law enforcement issues belied the rapport he claimed to enjoy with police associations on Long Island.
The candidates both said they would work to repair the broken immigration system. Suozzi highlighted his record working with Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas) on bipartisan immigration reform efforts. LiPetri expressed support for the establishment of a biometric entry system at the border as well as for mass deportations of those already in the country illegally.
NY-19: Challenger Josh Riley Unseats Marc Molinaro
The hard-fought House race in New York’s 19th district, which encompasses a large swath of the eastern and central parts of the state, was yet another contest in which local issues proved inseparable from issues of national concern.
Pitting the same candidates who competed for the seat in 2022, Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.) and Democrat Josh Riley, against each other, the District 19 contest turned largely on economic issues, immigration, crime, and the state’s higher-than-national rate of overdose deaths.
Both candidates claimed to come from humble origins, but Molinaro maintained that Riley, who ran with the endorsement of many progressive organizations and labor unions, had not modified the policies and platform on which he ran unsuccessfully for the same seat two years prior.
Riley, who has a background in corporate law, argued that Molinaro’s tax and fiscal policies would end up benefiting a small coterie of millionaires at the expense of the working people of upstate New York.
“Nobody ever asks, ‘How are we going to pay for the tax cut that he voted for?’ Nobody asks how we’re going to pay for the carried interest loophole to give billions of dollars to hedge fund executives,” Riley said during the Oct. 10 debate.
On immigration, Molinaro argued that it is impossible to separate a broken border and the Biden–Harris administration’s failures from the occurrence of heinous crimes in the district.
Riley painted the failure as bipartisan in nature and vowed decisive action to fix it.
NY-22: John Mannion Unseats Brandon Williams
Democrat John Mannion beat Rep. Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.), who won this seat in 2022.
The district includes Syracuse, Utica, and Auburn.